In the event of a blackout, they will be the only ones able to deliver urgent messages to the authorities or the population.

The Internet has not killed them, the radio amateurs all over the world have not become entangled in the net. In Switzerland there are almost 4000 of them, in Geneva there are about 150 passionate amateur radio operators.

Attention, not to be confused with the CBers, who in the 1980s had a microphone and a large antenna on their car and are not authorized to communicate on the same frequencies. "Unlike CB, radio amateurs have to have a license and take an exam at Ofcom," explains radio amateur Enio Castellan HB9RHI.

A passion that could come in handy in the event of a general power outage.

"We have batteries and solar cells. You can also send emails or compressed photos, but of course not at the same speed as 4G."

Above all, the possibility of communicating with the whole world, since the waves are reflected in the upper layers of the atmosphere.

Enthusiasts demonstrated Sunday in the Bains des Pâquis to test the signals that will be the only means of communication in the event of a blackout. In the event of a power failure, the mobile radio relays no longer work.

Watch the Léman Bleu TV news report - https://www.lemanbleu.ch/fr/Actualites/Geneve/20220916105411-Les-radioamateurs-ne-craignent-pas-le-black-out.html